Whelen Cencom not working

[TrentJohnson]

Hello. So I bought a 2015 FPIU back in augest and found out it has a Whelen Cencon Saphire underneath the passenger seat. I hooked up the power to it and bought a control head for it and all it does is flash the control head. You can press a button but then 5 seconds later it will flash and froget everything you just did. So I plugged my laptop into it and tried to put a base programing into it and it still does the same thing.



In short could the brain be bad or is it the head.

I can tottaly get a video if needed



Thanks!

 

[JohnMarcson]

Hello. So I bought a 2015 FPIU back in augest and found out it has a Whelen Cencon Saphire underneath the passenger seat. I hooked up the power to it and bought a control head for it and all it does is flash the control head. You can press a button but then 5 seconds later it will flash and froget everything you just did. So I plugged my laptop into it and tried to put a base programing into it and it still does the same thing.



In short could the brain be bad or is it the head.

I can tottaly get a video if needed



Thanks!

I would try connecting it to just the laptop with no vehicle power to read it. The USB will not power it aside from reading or updating. You may need to install firmware up reset it. Unhooking from vehicle power takes it into a kind of "safe mode".

 

[C17LVFD]

Also does it have any “Ford” markings on the Cencom unit? I could be wrong but I seem to recall there were Cencom’s sold with the FPIU and there were some minor differences with needing the Ford approved software or something thereof…

**Please correct me if I’m wrong on this**

Seth

 

[NoLimitSquads]

Hello. So I bought a 2015 FPIU back in augest and found out it has a Whelen Cencon Saphire underneath the passenger seat. I hooked up the power to it and bought a control head for it and all it does is flash the control head. You can press a button but then 5 seconds later it will flash and froget everything you just did. So I plugged my laptop into it and tried to put a base programing into it and it still does the same thing.



In short could the brain be bad or is it the head.

I can tottaly get a video if needed



Thanks!

Id like to see a video.

 

[TrentJohnson]

Id like to see a video.

 

[TrentJohnson]

The brain

 

[RS485]

Might be a red-herring but here goes:
This reminds me of when I tried to use a CenCom Sapphire ca. 2012 with a Legacy ca. 2018.
In this case, the CenCom would try to talk to the Legacy over CanBus (Wecan) but didn't understand what the Legacy sent back. I reached out to Whelen's tech support and they informed me the CenCom needed to updated firmware.

The way your keypad "cycles" is exactly the same behavior I saw w/r/t to the CenCom's attempt to setup the Legacy. The Legecy would send back details about itself the CenCom just didn't know about yet...just because it was so much older than the Legacy. It would just keep repeating its attempt to connect and configure over and over again.

So FWIW, it might be worth rounding up serial number, mfg dates and if they're years apart (newer keypad vs older CenCom Sapphire), reach out the Whelen asking if there are known incompatibilities in the firmware.

 

[TrentJohnson]

Might be a red-herring but here goes:
This reminds me of when I tried to use a CenCom Sapphire ca. 2012 with a Legacy ca. 2018.
In this case, the CenCom would try to talk to the Legacy over CanBus (Wecan) but didn't understand what the Legacy sent back. I reached out to Whelen's tech support and they informed me the CenCom needed to updated firmware.

The way your keypad "cycles" is exactly the same behavior I saw w/r/t to the CenCom's attempt to setup the Legacy. The Legecy would send back details about itself the CenCom just didn't know about yet...just because it was so much older than the Legacy. It would just keep repeating its attempt to connect and configure over and over again.

So FWIW, it might be worth rounding up serial number, mfg dates and if they're years apart (newer keypad vs older CenCom Sapphire), reach out the Whelen asking if there are known incompatibilities in the firmware.

Thank you! I'll see if i can reach out

 

[TrentJohnson]

Called whelen and they told me I have a gold remote head and im trying to use it on a cencom brain. Which i knew i had both and thought they were compatable but come to find out they aren't.. So im gonna go shop for a new remote head unless i can find someone to trade with.

 

[RS485]

Thanks for reporting back! Its too bad they couldn't be made to work together but at least we know.

 

[RL1]

If you need help from some really knowledgeable people (Which I am not), try the Whelen Command Group on FB. They helped me troubleshoot some stuff and one run reprogramed my control to exactly what I wanted, free of charge.